Finnish alternative metal outfit LUNA KILLS is perhaps one of Finland’s most precious gems in independent music. During the span of a year, the band has been releasing a handful of awe-inspiring singles, such as “deep cuts,” “BULLET,” and “super sick.” The latest new offering is “we were born to die,” featuring EDM artist RANKKA, which once again shows a different side of the band.
The song starts with some electronic elements and Lotta Ruutiainen‘s distorted voice, but then kicks off heavily with a great rhythmic sound that makes you want to instantly bang your head. Despite feeling a little different, it has the trademark LUNA KILLS elements that we love and know. The verses are calm and centered more around singer Lotta‘s vocals, while the choruses gain strength. Perhaps the most interesting part of the song is the collaboration between LUNA KILLS and RANKKA, who you would think are two worlds apart, but somehow managed to create something fresh and unique together. The dubstep breakdown suits perfectly in the song and creates a lot of tension.
Regarding the collaboration, Lotta Ruutiainen comments, “The idea for doing some sort of collab came up when we were in the studio recording and producing the song. The song already was heavily leaning towards electronic soundscapes, but we didn’t quite have the middle section written in a way we liked regarding the overall vibe, so that’s where the idea came to ask someone from the EDM scene. We had met RANKKA at one of our shows, and we all thought he made really sick music, so we asked him if he’d be interested in collaborating. He said yes, and he delivered big time with an awesome dubstep part, which definitely took the song where it needed to be.”
On the song’s lyrical themes, Lotta elaborates, “This song concentrates on the looming existential dread about the world we live in and on how eager we are to destroy everything, even when we are so small and still understand nothing about ourselves or the universe we’re floating in. In the bigger picture, the lyrics paint a picture of descending into this really nihilistic way of thinking that ‘nothing matters’ and how it’s easier to dwell on that feeling because you think it makes you numb, when in reality it just builds up anger and resentment.”
“All of the new songs which we wrote last year (and are yet to be released) carry the same themes about what the feeling of isolation makes you go through with yourself inside your head, and the fallout of that mentally and physically, so the ‘damaged’ is referring to that. It’s kinda a way to also remind yourself and others that you’re not alone with these thoughts,” comments Lotta on why this song is “intended for damaged audiences only.” She continues, “Visually, the direction we’re taking is (surprise!) inspired by gaming, so I’ve taken elements from game packaging to HUD design for the art. The label is based on the basic ‘rated’ label, but I wanted to make it specified for our themes, so that’s how that came to be!”
Check out “we were born to die” here…
